Selling elderly parents house - tips please!

[sarasabrownie]

Sad task of clearing out house in another part of the UK. No relatives remain in the area so we're going to have to take holidays/long weekends to clear. Realise we might need to remove stairlift - do people buy these second hand? The bath was removed a few years ago and relative was ripped off and had a big shower with grab rails installed for £9k. With a bit of a clean and removal of grab rails it could look OK. Carpets downstairs are OK bit tired and walls when we remove pictures will be patchy because of nicotine stains. Kitchen done up a while ago so not too bad but they never finished tiling properly and kept old white goods. We are just wondering how much to do before putting on market. It's in a part of the world where 3 bed semis go for about £150k. Garden back and front that will need cutting back tidying. Because we have such shortage of time and just want to get rid we want to do enough to sell it but not go too over board. Anyone got experience of this and tips?

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Could you ask an estate agent to advise you on doing it up? I would have thought that if you had a new kitchen and bathroom (or bathroom tidy up as you say) and a coat of paint and new carpets throughout, it would be expensive but would mean a faster sale. You could weigh up the cost of that and decide whether it was worth it. Look at other similar houses in the area to check price ranges. But really I'd call in a couple of estate agents (like in Homes Under the Hammer!) and ask for advice.

Have a look at this article about stairlifts.

If there's been a smoker in the house, I would remove carpets. If there are nicotine stains, I'd definitely get it painted.

Sorry for your loss.

I would suspect that emotionally it will be easier for you to sell quickly and not keep returning to the house or have to make decisions about changing it. I also think there isnt much money to made these days in minor renovations, whihc is what it sounds as if you have. and especially if you have to employ trades due to time and distance.

I would paint everywhere white, clean everything, clean carpets, make gardens neat and do any small items of DIY.

If the white goods are dated remove them, if not leave them. Remove the stair lift, is there a way to make the shower less 'OAP'? A big shower can be desireable, not so much if it looks like a hospital.

Are there any charity shops that do house clearance? British Heart Foundation or a local hospice shop? Yes some stuff may be of value but at least it goes to charity.

Then clean and neutral. Ask an agent for recommendations for professional cleaners. Change the carpet if you need to. (Ideally find someone who does trade, i.e. carpets in new blocks of flats who offers a limited range but nice and neutral.) Cheap curtains from somewhere like Homebase (Homesense is great if you have one near you.) Make a list of snagging items then get a handyman in to do the lot over a day or two, including slapping on some paint in main rooms and clearing the garden. Keep a minimum of furniture and make the beds. Dress the table.

Remove valuables/paperwork to sort at home. I ended up putting stuff in large plastic storage containers, and getting them out of my mums flat.

Everything looks better when clean and uncluttered.

Is there anything about the house likely to make it popular ie area, large garden, potential to extend? If not I'd just put it up for auction after emptying. If it smells of smoke and is dated, a touch up with paint isn't going to help it sell, plus would be so much hassle for you

The smoke smell will be attached to the wall paper and carpets - you won't get rid of it by painting

Hire a skip - take some friends and contact a few charities

Give a key to a neighbour if you have anyone collecting or work need doing

Hi. Is it worth asking a few estate agents if they have anyone on their books who would be interested in it as it is? There are buyers out there who prefer a 'project' house and would rather tackle it themselves. Or similarly if there are local property developers who would buy it off you? It may mean selling at 10k less than you would like to get for it but if the house is a long way from you and it's going to be a huge hassle to sort / need money spending on it to sell to a 'traditional' buyer, then it may feel it would be a price worth paying.

Depends on if you want/need full whack for it. My relative recently spend 10k+ Over 3 months and prob only cleared an extra 2k on selling than if he had sold as seen once he had cleared the house.
He regrets 'doing it up' for sale and had no need to. Speak to local estate agents they may have investors and developers who would do it up from scratch anyway.

We sold my parents house. The whole house and garden were in a terrible state. Awful stains., cigarette smells and unmodernised since 1970.A local Hospice charity cleared it for us for £600 and I understand some Air Ambulance Charities do the same.

We called a few local charities and one of them took the stair lift.

The Estate Agent told us to do nothing with it. On the first Open day we had 3 offers from 9 viewings. The one we accepted was £25000 above the 'offers over' price. I think the buzz of the opened day helped.

Don't do it up. People underestimate how much ££ even cosmetics take up so you can make more money selling it as a fixer upper. Declutter and you will probably need to remove a third or half of the existing furniture. Most likely too much of it and quite bulky in each room?

If he had a medical bed, don't leave bedroom empty. We "staged" a cheap double air mattress propped up on cardboard boxes (to height of normal bed) in main bedroom because when empty, it actually looked small and we were afraid buyers would think a regular bed would be a tight fit. We wanted to put a coat of neutral paint over glaringly bright yellow walls but estate agent said it was bright enough as was and really didn't make a difference in his experience.

I wouldn't do it up just clean it up and tidy the house get rid of the bad carpets and the bad furniture and do the garden . Someone may want to buy it because it has grab rails and a stair lift installed already! I am so sorry you are on this position I have recently lost a loved one and inherited a house . The EA told us to leave it as it was ie clean and tidy, keep the garden done and leave it for a few weeks to guage the market , HTH. We sold straight away to a cash buyer as soon as putting it on the market. I know we were extremely lucky . Good Luck OP!

We were advised not to renovate as new people would want to put their own stamp on the place.

We did sort out the garden fence and the stains from a water leak - we repaired the flashing around the chimney and repainted the hallway.

I think it was the builder who sold it for us really - he was very positive about the house in general. He was repairing the chimney, the EA was late, the prospective buyers and builder had a good chat and the buyers could obviously see that we were carrying out repairs.

I haven't had to do this but know I will in the next few years, and I'm planning ahead. Agree with the other posters, don't do more than clear out the worst. It will be bought by someone looking for a "do-er upper", and if you spend money on a new kitchen etc, (and you don't need the hassle right now), it might put people off if they want to knock through etc. Sell it as it is and take the money and run.
It's so sad when you see properties on line that are clearly probate sales, but they sell really quickly.

I'm sure that stair lifts can be refurbished, might be worth asking the original manufacturers?

My parents previous house went on the market about 20 years ago, I said to the EA that it needed a lot of updating, he was really cheerful and said that people like that. It's completely unrecognisable now!

We took the stair lift out. We were told it was no good to anyone as everyone has different heights / returns etc and it wasn't worthwhile or feasible for installers to reuse.

I would not bother staging with existing furniture because you then have to go back and clear again.

Please don't paint over nicotine stained wallpaper. It isn't a solution and just makes the job of getting rid of it harder.

Don't waste any money doing any reno. Just sell cheaper for a quick sale.

Take anything you would like to keep (leave any stuff you think you could sell at car boot sales, ebay, unlikely to be worth the inconvenience) personal papers etc, pay to have the house cleared and professionally cleaned, and pay to have the garden done.

It should come in at under £1000, and worth every penny, especially if you were intending to spend weekends traveling do this. Then sell it, and don't stress to much about not getting what you think it's worth.

Thanks so much everyone for your thoughts and condolences. The consensus seems to be not to do too much. I think we might just go down, hire a skip, box up precious items and paperwork to take home and get a reputable house clearance company to take the rest. There isn't much to be honest - my partner will have to go through all his files from school and uni that were bunged up in the loft decades ago. I think we could pressure hose the front garden that is mainly concrete with a borders, pressure hose the grubby garage door, tidy up the back garden and generally clean inside. It's in a cul de sac on the edge of an estate so quite quiet - that will appeal I think. Definitely potential to extend.

My other half was under the impression that it would cost money for us to get EA round to give us their thoughts - the probate have had one EA in to give a valuation for probate but I am not sure whether that valuation is a reflection of what it would be put on the market for. Would EAs come out for free? We have never owned a property so don't have a clue!

Just one more thing to be aware of. Once the Probate was completed I thought it was all finished with. Then I got a quite frightening letter from a Governmsnf Department. I rang them and I felt she was accusing me of fraud. What had happened was that the original house valuation from the EA was £250,000. A year later when the house was sold we got £325,000. So once that was sorted they were ok but they were quite rude about it. So keep all paper work even after you think it is all sorted and if the final house price I s much greater add a covering letter with all forms you send. The annoying thing was I had added a note to the form about the difference in valuations which they just ignored, it was not until a few months later that I'm found it.

Hi. Yes most EAs will come out for free to advise you on what you could market the house for.

We got three Estate Agents who were all happy to come for free and gave us great advice. We went with the most expensive one, because he seemed to have a lot of probate knowledge. He also had pre-vetted clients, with mortgage agreed in principle and evidence of deposit. He also advised us to be wary of people who say they are 'cash buyers' because, In his experience, they were either money launderers or chancers, who will reduce the offer at the last minute.

I'm sorry you're having to do this.

I has to do this for a close relative who died suddenly, and it took me a long time to get started to sort things out. With hindsight I would have got the property cleared and put it up for sale more quickly. It seems brutal, but the clock is ticking on so many things - deadline for probate, paying IHT, paying utilities, paying beneficiaries who hassle you for their bequests etc. etc.

I agree with Peralmepots about asking 3 estate agents to value and issues with "cash buyers".

Contact Stannah and see if they will remove the stairlift

I would second (or third or fourth) those who say do nothing with it. We sold my IL's house last year - much more expensive area of the country but otherwise pretty similar situation in terms of the state of the house. They were smokers in the house for 40 years so you can imagine the state of the walls, carpets, cupboards, doors - everything. The decor was also dated and it needed new bathrooms and kitchens. All three estate agents advised doing NOTHING with the house. The advice was that the amount of money which needed spending would result only in a corresponding increase in the sale price i.e. spend £50k and we would get an extra £50k on the sale price. However, the time taken to do all these works (either ourselves which was completely unthinkable) or getting contractors to do it (which still required significant input of time in terms of managing, choosing cupboards, tiles etc) meant a considerably delayed sale and remaining responsible for the house, insurance, garden maintenance etc. with no increased profit at the end.

Importantly, they also said that most likely the electrics and heating would need replacing which is a major expense. If you can get away with not doing this work, there is no point in decorating anyway because new buyers come in, look at the ancient radiators and realise that they will damage the new paintwork and have to lift the flooring in order to replace them anyway. The agents said the only way to increase the profit on the house was to go beyond a renovation for sale by e.g. by building on an extension in which case we might increase the sale price beyond the amount spent.

They also said that by renovating we were actually limiting the pool of buyers because while people might like a fresh, new house they might equally not like the kitchen installed or the flooring chosen. Not everyone wants an inoffensive white kitchen or beige carpets but if factored into the sale price, neither can they then afford to change it! By selling in an unrenovated state, it also appeals to people who want to live in the area but can't generally afford it. However, if they can get a house which needs lots of work, they can do the minimum to move in and then gradually do the rest over a period of years.

Yes, EAs come out and do valuations, and will talk to you about the service they offer. The service side might be more important as you aren't local / won't be around. Best to get 3 quotes and make a judgement from there. They won't charge you to come out and look - that is how they get their business.
Agree with the not doing it up. People will prefer to do it their way than have to cover your costs of doing things in a way they wouldn't choose.